Cost to produce and analysis the specific Rural Consultations: EIR release

Information requested

The total cost to produce and analysis the following consultations?

1. Fisheries Management Measures within Scottish Offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
2. Call for evidence: phasing out the use of cages in the gamebird and quail sectors.
3. Herring in the Firth of Clyde: setting the total allowable catch for 2024.
4. Consultation on cattle identification and traceability in Scotland.
5. Consultation on a proposal to phase out the use of cages in Scotland’s laying hen sector.
6. Meeting our '30 by 30' biodiversity commitment on terrestrial and freshwater sites: consultation on legislative proposals.
7. Facilitating marine nature restoration through legislation.
8. Enabling powers for Scotland's Environmental Impact Assessment regimes & Habitats Regulations.
9. National Good Food Nation Plan: consultation.
10. Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018: proposed amendments.
11. Managing deer for climate and nature: consultation.
12. Scotland's draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030 - consultation.
13. Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (Scotland) Regulations 2024.
14. Bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD): Consultation on phase 6 of the eradication scheme.
15. Marketing of Organic Heterogeneous Material: consultation.
16. Fish stocks: allocation of additional quota.
17. Plant Health Exports Audited Trader Scheme (PHEATS) - Scottish Membership.
18. Tackling the Nature Emergency: Consultation on Scotland’s Strategic Framework for Biodiversity.
19. Strategic environmental assessment of agricultural tenancies, small landholdings and land use tenancy proposals – consultation.
20. Improving inshore fisheries data: consultation on requiring electronic tracking and monitoring technology on under 12 metre commercial fishing vessels.
21. National Islands Plan review: consultation.
22. National Marine Plan 2 Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Scoping Report.
23. Proposals to close fishing for sandeel in all Scottish waters: consultation.
24. Wine legislation: proposed amendments.
25. Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill: use of snares and powers of Scottish SPCA inspectors: Consultation.
26. Licensing of activities involving animals.
27. Firth of Clyde cod spawning closure for 2024/25.
28. Salmon fishing: proposed river gradings for 2024 season.
29. New National Parks - appraisal framework.
30. New environmental quality standard (EQS) for emamectin benzoate (EmBz): consultation on the implementation timescales.
31. Herring in the Firth of Clyde - setting the total allowable catch for 2023.
32. Ending the sale of peat in Scotland.
33. Rural and Islands College Merger proposal: Consultation.
34. Scottish Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs).
35. Wildlife management in Scotland.
36. Delivering our Vision for Scottish Agriculture. Proposals for a new Agriculture Bill.
37. Scottish Biodiversity Strategy 2022.
38. Salmon fishing: proposed river gradings for 2023 season.
39. Enhancing sustainable fisheries management - Remote Electronic Monitoring.
40. Scotland's Future Catching Policy consultation.
41. The Future for National Parks in Scotland.
42. Proposal to designate Red Rocks and Longay as a Marine Protected Area.
43. Consultation on the draft Joint Fisheries Statement.
44. An updated marine litter strategy for Scotland.
45. The use of dogs to control foxes and other wild mammals in Scotland.
46. Forestry and Land Scotland Corporate Plan Consultation.
47. Agricultural transition in Scotland.
48. Firth of Clyde cod spawning closure for 2022/23.
49. Development of the Islands Bond.
50. Sectoral Marine Plan - innovation and targeted oil and gas decarbonisation, offshore wind.

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Response to your request

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested (note that these figures do not include costs attributed to Scottish Government staff time as explained below).

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. Therefore we are refusing parts your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reasons for this are explained below. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have.

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about the cost of consultations, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

Staff costs: While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. Scottish Government officials operate flexibly across a range of policies and programmes according to the specific requirements of their work at any given time. They do not, as a matter of course, record the proportion of their time spent working on particular matters. Scottish Government officials would be involved throughout the production and analysis stages of the consultation process (in terms of both internal work by officials and engagement with external third parties) which would constitute part of the overall total cost incurred.

As noted above officials do not record the proportion of their time spent on any given matter(s), subsequently it would not be possible to determine the internal Scottish Government costs attributed to staff time spent on the above consultations specified in your request which would form a part of the total overall cost. Therefore, it is not possible to provide a “total cost” figure incurred by the Scottish Government for each of the consultations specified in your request.

Consultation 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 18, 20: While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. This is because the consultation is either still active or because the analysis of the completed consultation is not complete.

Consultation 29 & 41: The costs for consultations 29 and 41 have been combined.

Consultations 34, 49. Some of the information you have requested is already published on the Scottish Government publications pages. I have provided links to the relevant websites in the Annex. Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

Consultation 36. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. This is because we do not hold any financial records specific to the analysis of this consultation.

Consultation 43. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. This is because the consultation was led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). However, you may wish to contact Defra at info@marinemanagement.org.uk who may be able to help you.

Consultation 46. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. This is because the consultation was not performed by the Scottish Government. Please redirect your request to Forestry and Land Scotland at freedomofinformation@forestryandland.gov.scot.

Consultation 48. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. This is because we do not hold any financial records specific to this consultation.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR 202400434447 - Information Released - Annex

File type

PDF

File size

97.2 kB